New high-speed rail operator Proxima has officially announced Velvet as the brand name for its upcoming open-access services. The announcement was made on July 1 by co-founder Rachel Picard, who outlined the company’s vision to deliver a simpler and more enjoyable rail experience aimed at attracting travellers who find train travel too complicated.
Setting out the company’s plans, Picard said, “Velvet aims to be seen as easy, pleasant and new, and to attract people who currently think rail is too complicated to use.” She emphasised that Proxima has conducted extensive research into passenger needs and added, “Because we are new, we won’t have the habits of other operators.”
Proxima was established in 2021 by Rachel Picard and Timothy Jackson. Describing the company’s founding vision, Jackson said, “When Rachel Picard and I first met, not long after the formal opening of the French rail market and the Covid pandemic, we discovered that we had made the same observation: demand for environmentally friendly long-distance travel has never been stronger and yet the available capacity falls short.” He added, “As a consequence, 15% of would-be travellers end up using a less eco-friendly mode or not travelling at all. To provide the travelling public with extra capacity and a fresh journey proposition, we dreamed up Project Proxima.”
In July 2024, Proxima secured €1 billion in funding from Antin Infrastructure Partners and a consortium of banks. By October 2024, the company placed an order with Alstom for 12 nine-car Avelia Horizon trainsets. Development of the new trains is supported by Onepoint and N+P Innovation Design. The first power car has already been assembled at Alstom’s Belfort plant, with production of the first coach underway in La Rochelle.
Jackson commented, “To have reached this point just 12 months after completing our fund-raising and nine months after placing an order for 12 of the latest generation Alstom Avelia Horizon trainsets is evidence of our close and efficient collaboration with Alstom and of a shared desire to act entrepreneurially and imaginatively.”
Testing of the first train is scheduled for 2026, with delivery expected at a rate of one trainset per month from 2028. Velvet is in talks with infrastructure managers SNCF Réseau and Lisea, as well as station operator SNCF Gares & Connexions, to secure train paths. “There is capacity available on the Atlantique network,” Jackson confirmed.
The initial service will launch on the Paris–Bordeaux route in 2028 with four trainsets, eventually scaling to offer 10 million seats per year across routes including Paris–Angers–Nantes and Paris–Rennes. Picard noted that the operation will contribute “€200 million per year in track charges.” Velvet will run under its own safety certificate and is expected to employ nearly 300 staff.
Alstom France CEO Frédéric Wiscart stated that the manufacturer is investing €150 million to increase production capacity to fulfil orders for Velvet, SNCF Voyageurs, and Morocco’s ONCF. In June, construction began on the new Marcheprime Lisea Technicentre, where approximately 80 Alstom employees will maintain Velvet’s fleet, which will require 10 to 11 trainsets in daily operation.
Jackson concluded, “In the country that can reasonably claim to have pioneered and led high speed train travel in Europe, Velvet marks the creation of France’s first new and independent passenger train operator in 85 years.” He added, “I could not be prouder that we have put together a new all-French rail company, serving some of France’s most important cities, backed by one of France’s leading long-term infrastructure investors, with a major French rolling stock partner and with a je ne sais quoi of joie de vivre.”
Source: Railway Gazette
